Security In Public Spaces Research Articles

Public Room Door Locking System Using Wireless Technology and Internet of Things

Enhancing the efficiency and security of public spaces has become increasingly important, leading to the development of an automatic door lock system utilizing wireless technology and the Internet of Things (IoT). This study aims to design and implement a smart door lock system that provides automated control and improves convenience in managing public room access. The research methodology involves programming the ESP32 microcontroller, integrating IoT applications, and conducting various testing methods. These include manual control through physical switches, automated control via the Sinric Pro platform, and Wi-Fi hotspot-based control using the ESP32 module. Comprehensive hardware and software testing was carried out to ensure system reliability and functionality. The results indicate that the proposed system enables seamless control of public room doors through multiple methods, including an Android-based application and Wi-Fi connectivity. By leveraging IoT technology, the system offers a user-friendly, efficient, and secure solution for managing public space access, addressing modern requirements for convenience and safety.

Stand-off concealed firearm detection using motion tracking and convolutional neural networks

<p>The standoff detection of concealed firearms is crutial in managing public security in public spaces. Currently employed standoff concealed weapon detection techniques employ electromagnetic wave imaging which has been found to be extremely slow and may require expensive hardware and may not be applicable in public open spaces. Inorder to maintain safety in open spaces, artificial intelligence enabled video surveillance systems have been widely adopted. This poses an opportunity to explore video surveillance cameras as concealed weapon detectors. A review of existing video surveillance based automated weapon detection approaches discovered that the focus was on the detection of unconcealed firearms leaving a gap in the detection of concealed firearms. This study addresses the aforementioned gap by providing a standoff concealed firearm detection approach on video based on skeletal-based human motion tracking and convolutional neural networks. The motion of armed and unarmed persons was tracked using a depth camera and further classified using convolutional neural networks model. The developed model reported 100% accuracy, precision and recall scores. These results outperformed results obtained from traditional machine learning models therefore highlighting the superior capability of the proposed approach for concealed firearm detection on video to complement the efforts of human video surveillance operators.</p>

Loitering Based Human Crime Detection in Video Surveillance using Beluga Whale Adam Dingo Optimizer and Deep Convolutional Neural Network

Video Surveillance (VS) systems play a crucial role in maintaining security in public spaces, commercial establishments and residential areas. Detecting and preventing human-related crimes within the footage captured by these systems is a challenging task. Traditionally, VS systems rely on basic motion detection, which often leads to false alarms and inefficient use of resources. Loitering, a behavior frequently associated with criminal activities, requires more nuanced detection to reduce false positives and improve response times. Accurate tracking of individuals, especially in crowded environments, is another challenge. The chief objective of this research is to address these challenges by introducing an innovative Loitering-based Human Crime Detection (LHCD) module in VS. This module combines enhanced euclidean based Deep Simple Online Real-time Tracking (DSORT) with the Segmentation Quality Assessment (SQA) algorithm to accurately assess human travel distances. Also, this research integrates the Beluga Whale Adam Dingo Optimizer (BWADO) and a Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) to boost the precision and efficiency of Human Crime Detection (HCD) within loitering areas. The introduced approach demonstrates the effectiveness of introduced module, which reduces false alarms and enhances response times in VS. Outcomes demonstrate that the introduced approach outperforms existing approaches in various performance measures like accuracy (99.76%), F1-score (99.89%), recall (98.59%), precision (98.9%) and processing time (1.78s) demonstrating its superior effectiveness and potential for advancements in the field

Mapping Safety, Security and Walkability of Historical Public Open Spaces in Post-Conflict Libya: Tripoli as North African Case Study

North African cities have been undergoing major transformation over the past two decades following protracted instability, civic uprising, and conflicts, changing their perception from havens to territories of displacements with social, psychological, and physical problems. Historic public spaces in those cities, in particular, form a critical part of urban environments as they have the identity, livelihoods and cross-community engagement in a healthy and fulfilling urban fabric and culture. Whilst there have been several studies on the characteristics of open spaces in urban environments, there is very limited work on the changing perceptions, use and engagement of public spaces in historic cities especially in the post-Arab Spring and its relative instability. This study aims to deploy investigative and creative methods to map, analyse and navigate through the transformation in the perceptions of historic public spaces in Post-Conflict Libya and its divided cities. It will study the users' (locals and visitors) attitudes, movements, and reflections on how those spaces have changed over time. visitors' behaviour in open historical public spaces in Tripoli, Libya. The study explores the relationships between the characteristics of historical public spaces, physical activity, and psychological behaviour. The paper argues that safety and security in public spaces are critical and inherent qualities that inform much of the users’ attitudes in historic cities, which has continued to be the case in post-conflict Tripoli.

Counter-terrorism in cyber–physical spaces: Best practices and technologies from the state of the art

The demand for protection and security of physical spaces and urban areas increased with the escalation of terroristic attacks in recent years. We envision with the proposed cyber–physical systems and spaces, a city that would indeed become a smarter urbanistic object, proactively providing alerts and being protective against any threat. This survey intend to provide a systematic multivocal literature survey comprised of an updated, comprehensive and timely overview of state of the art in counter-terrorism cyber–physical systems, hence aimed at the protection of cyber–physical spaces. Hence, provide guidelines to law enforcement agencies and practitioners providing a description of technologies and best practices for the protection of public spaces. We analyzed 112 papers collected from different online sources, both from the academic field and from websites and blogs ranging from 2004 till mid-2022. (a) There is no one single bullet-proof solution available for the protection of public spaces. (b) From our analysis we found three major active fields for the protection of public spaces: Information Technologies, Architectural approaches, Organizational field. (c) While the academic suggest best practices and methodologies for the protection of urban areas, the market did not provide any type of implementation of such suggested approaches, which shows a lack of fertilization between academia and industry. The overall analysis has led us to state that there is no one single solution available, conversely, multiple methods and techniques can be put in place to guarantee safety and security in public spaces. The techniques range from architectural design to rethink the design of public spaces keeping security into account in continuity, to emerging technologies such as AI and predictive surveillance.

Redes de políticas en el marco de la Agenda Urbana para la UE. La influencia de las coaliciones temáticas en la politización de la toma de decisiones a escala europea

This article explores the role of multilevel thematic partnerships method in building a specific policy, namely, the Urban Agenda for the European Union (EU) adopted in 2016. This method, designed as a pilot experiment, formalizes cooperation among different levels of government as well as public and private actors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of the multilevel governance approach and to determine the extent to which the thematic partnerships method contributes to the politicization of a decision-making process at the European level. For this purpose, the methodological design is based on network analysis applied to four case studies, namely, the following four thematic partnerships: Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees, Urban Poverty, Climate Action and Security in Public Spaces. Firstly, the results show a higher mobilization of stakeholders representing local interests; secondly, it is also shown that the monetization of the problem determines the nature of stakeholders (stakeholders representing social or economic interests) that join the policy networks. In sum, this article makes an empirical contribution to multilevel governance and politicization studies on the one hand, and to urban and European studies on the other.

Race-based readings of safety in public space in Milan, the challenge for urban design

Urban designers have long sought to plan more secure public spaces by encouraging a sense of territory through the surveillant and the surveyed. Nevertheless, the racial dimension of this territorialisation is insufficiently recognised. Our research tool, which we have trialled in Milan, identifies the influence of design in creating a sense of security in public space and, independently, the influence of race. It provides designers with a tool that could facilitate a more radically just practice that takes ownership of the role of race in perceptions of secure public space and challenges existing conscious and unconscious bias and which in so doing makes design practice more resilient to the rise of populist administrations increasingly engaging in bordering practices that conjoin migration, race and security at a national scale, but which are often enacted at the city scale.

Interview with Kathleen M Cumiskey

ABSTRACT Kathleen M Cumiskey’s feminist research on gender, mobile media, safety, vulnerability and grief has spanned across the previous two decades. This interview focuses on three of Cumiskey’s key texts, and suggests how gendered practices of safety, security and intimacy have changed since the introduction of smartphones. It addresses contemporary changes in mobile and social media practices, and how these influence socio-political smartphone uses. Cumiskey discusses the implications of women’s smartphone practices for generating feelings safety and security in public space; how smartphones can both enhance and limit the ways women participate in public space; and how smartphones engender particular expressions of vulnerability, especially in the context of grief and loss. The interview concludes with a discussion of the subversive potential of mobile media and smartphone communications in opening up transformative modes of engaging with others and the world.

The act of "Talka" in historic preservation discourse in contemporary Latvia

The stem of contemporary culture in the Baltics arose from the countryside and folklore. Among the traditions of the Baltic cultures, there is talka – a term derived from work in the field, which historically was the act of communal work of the village residents to help each family in their agricultural work, such as haymaking, rye harvesting, manuring, threshing, flax pulling, and breaking. Known in other countries as "bee," the term ‘talka’ in the Baltics refers to voluntary community work. As the communities have been moving to cities, talka has followed them naturally. Currently, cooperative work efforts include maintenance of sites and buildings, and it is a frequent and widespread act. The paper reviews examples of combined efforts of small communities to improve the appearance, performance, and security of public spaces. The application of joint work has allowed for low-cost gentrification and urban upgrade of several neighborhoods in Latvia.

Urban Video Surveillance as a Tool to Improve Security in Public Spaces

Video surveillance is an integral part of the contemporary world. Its use increases the sense of security but also generates certain risks. Laws do not always clearly and comprehensively define the rules for installing and using video surveillance and different rules are adopted in different countries to address these issues. This article presents an analysis of statistical data concerning urban video surveillance as a tool to improve the security of public spaces in the city of Katowice using the example of the operation of the Katowice Smart Surveillance and Analysis System. By presenting the operation of video surveillance in two different time periods, it was possible to assess the effectiveness of urban video surveillance for the security of public spaces in terms of particularly onerous crimes. The technical and organizational solutions applied, as in the case of the Katowice Smart Surveillance and Analysis System, made it possible to assess the impact of the operation of the system on offenses and the number of legal proceedings.

The WHO Concept of Active Aging from the Local Perspective: A Qualitative Survey in the District of Constance

The WHO strategy for active aging comprises maintenance of health, participation in social life as well as integration and social security for the aged. As a political framework for action, the strategy supports the future aging policy of municipalities. This survey examines how local actors assess the WHO strategy of active aging. The study consists of 5 guided interviews of experts from the rural district of Constance. The interview was based on a previously coordinated list of indicators that summarize 102 recommendations for action. The awareness of the WHO strategy as well as a brief introduction to the 3 main areas provided the start of the interviews, followed by the comparison of municipal activities with the list of indicators, the identification of the need for action and of previous unrecognized aspects. In the sense of a data triangulation, we conducted a quantitative survey in further districts. The data of the interviews were analyzed by using the method of Gläser and Laudel, referred to as qualitative content analysis. None of the interviewed experts knew the WHO strategy of active aging. However, after a short explanation of the WHO strategy and indicator list, they classified the strategy as practicable. All of them rated the recommendations for action from the sub-areas of participation in society (e.g. creation of advisory councils for seniors) and security in public space and transport (e.g. protection measures for older pedestrians) as feasible. In some areas, such as medical care and formal care, they missed indicators. Hence, we recommend adding new recommendations for action. The awareness of local authorities regarding the WHO strategy of active aging should be improved. Taking into account the specified further development needs, active aging is a viable orientation aid and offers several opportunities for aging policy for municipalities.

The Paradox of Safety and Fear: Security in Public Space

Ever‐increasing levels of security staff presence and enclosure around public spaces may be counterproductive. Rather than reassuring and liberating us, the phenomenon – prevalent in the UK and the US but far less so in other countries – is arguably creating a heightened sense of fear, and is limiting the expression of our democratic society. Anna Minton, a widely published author and speaker who is currently Reader in Architecture at the University of East London, reflects on the plague of public‐space privatisation, and points to positive initiatives that are going against the flow.

Measuring patient safety culture in maternal and child health institutions in China: a qualitative study

IntroductionPatient safety culture (PSC) plays a critical role in ensuring safe and quality care. Extensive PSC studies have been undertaken in hospitals. However, little is known about PSC in maternal...

Sensory Reception and Other Factors Affecting the Atmosphere and Security of Public Spaces

Background Public spaces take a variety of forms, e.g. squares, parks, street which are connected to each. The various developed interior with surrounding building are creating a urban system which defines identity of the city. The city is alive only then when public spaces are activated. To make it there is necessary to ensure adapted functional program. The authors are seeking the elements, which creates a friendly atmosphere and a unique microclimate that allows to create relationships and psycho-physical relaxation in the city. For this purpose there were examined the material elements, e.g. composition of elevation the interiors, dominants, opening lookouts. The most important part of resources was perception. Sensory factors (eg. aesthetic, acoustic, olfactory) which affect our perception and are related with emotional experiences were analysed and summarized. A neighborhood of the national arteries was also analysed. The field of research is a market square of the city Serock (Mazowieckie voivodship, Poland). Methods In the process of space shaping there are very important designing treatments; material become design treatments, which are intended to stimulate sensory inputs. This process greatly improves the mental and physical health of users of a given space. Research on public space shows that an important mental health benefit is a deep feeling of space (proprioception). It is a key to create the safe urban interiors, which are meeting with the needs of society. Results During the research there were performed analysis of spatial forms, perceptual phenomenology and landscape of the city by category of genius loci (Ch. Norberg Schulz), which became a base to made a model of urban spaces that provides to users a sense of comfort and safety. For the analysis there were also used acoustic maps in the form of WMS provided by General Directorate for National Roads and Highways. Conclusions At the successful process of transformation, adaptation or designing of public spaces it is necessary to encourage as many as is it possible human senses. Thus, the user has the ability to identify with the place and recognize it as their own. Even the best organized space is unusable and worthless without customers, their thoughts, ideas, hopes, memories because they give meaning and significance and build real value of the place. That is why there is so important to have aware of the impact for designers, who arrange space by stimulating the human sensory zone.

Improving the quality of life in high-rise. A sustainable approach CPTED observed in the public realm in Widzew

The article focuses on the sense of security as a very important element affecting the quality of life and its improvement. Attention was drawn to crime and security in public space, which, is used by old people. The aim of the study is to use the CPTED methodology – Dutch solutions in the field of crime prevention such as architectural, urban and green design. The main criteria used in the method is visibility, accessibility, attractiveness and territoriality. Observations and analysis on the use of this method were conducted by the author on the high-rise (real estate) in Łódź-Widzew.

The construction of the historic theatres in the Sicilian area: knowledge as a tool for their rehabilitation

In Sicilian area, as well as elsewhere in Europe, the theatres built between the last decades of the XVIII century and the beginning of the XX century are progressively disappearing because of integrations and substitutions required by the new “modernity”, the change of use of the building itself that do not respect the original purpose. Nevertheless, beyond the updates caused by the respect of the new laws concerning the security in public spaces and a great confidence in concrete, there are still many theatres witness of this very interesting typology. This study recognizes and analyses the peculiar elements of major and minor theatre structures.

Crime prevention in terms of designing public space and the role of private security

Concern about the security of public spaces has become increasingly important in the last thirty years, both in the public service (police) and in private security which is responsible for protection of individual private facilities. It has been concluded that the study of public space design in terms of security is as important as the study of social and other factors of criminal behavior. Modern architectural solutions must take into account a design of space and facilities that prevents and obstructs the exercise of criminal actions to a maximum. Security design should make crime dangerous, less desirable and less justified, i.e. it should change the perception that potential criminals have of the risks of criminal behavior in terms of greater opportunities for its detection and arrest. The paper presents the criteria which should be followed when designing a public space, its effect on the behavior of criminals and notes on how badly designed public space reduces the effects of formal oversight by private security guards and the police. Most of the work is related to the case study of Block 21 in New Belgrade as a typical representative of the public space that has undergone numerous transformations over the past 50 years. There are very important indicators of how design changes of the area affected the state of crime.

Adolescents’ Perceived Safety and Security in Public Space—A Swedish Focus Group Study with a Gender Perspective

Outdoor areas are important for adolescents, since they often lack access to other spaces. Focus group discussions were conducted with 15–16 year old girls and boys in Stockholm and Uppsala Counties, Sweden, to explore their ideas regarding threats they face when moving in public space, including traffic. The threats which emerged as most prominent were lone rapists—mainly threatening girls—or gangs of adolescent boys—threatening boys with violence and girls mainly with (sexual) harassment. Traffic, though sometimes admitted to be a major safety risk, was perceived as more manageable. Boys and girls suggest coping with social risks by behaving opposite to the gendered idea of a ‘victim’—boys by being non-aggressive, girls by acting confidently. Boys portray themselves as level-headed, skilled and making rational risk assessments. Girls sometimes described themselves as behaving in an unsafe way in traffic, but not in relation to social/sexual threats.

Security in Public Space: An Empirical Assessment of Three US Cities

Critics often mourn a loss of publicness in cities due to the increased presence of antiterror security zones and related behavioral and access controls, although recent work suggests that security landscapes have shifted from the hard, intense, militarized architecture of the late 1990s–early 2000s to a softer, less obtrusive approach more commonly seen today. Nonetheless, these studies are mostly anecdotal in nature: few studies attempt to back these claims with empirical evidence and even fewer connect this physical security imposition with the policies and plans governing its implementation and operation. In this paper I describe results of site visits to Civic Centers and Financial Districts in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In each neighborhood I catalog security landscapes using a simple tool to assess the intensity, duration, and location of individual security zones. I find that the security landscape covers between 3.4% and 35.7% of publicly accessible space in the districts studied, and that this landscape is most prevalent and intense in New York City. I also find that security zones governed by multistakeholder networks are more intense and militarized than zones managed by a single entity. By understanding how the policies impact physical security, albeit in a relatively small sample of cities and districts, we can better predict what the future of urban security measures might hold. This paper provides empirical grounding to more common theoretical speculations regarding the future of the urban security landscape in the global West.

A gender perspective on adolescents' perceived safety and security when moving outdoors

Adolescents in Sweden can move relatively independently in public space. Girls are, however, in general more limited than boys, for instance due to perceived insecurity in the environment. This study...